Heathrow tops charts as world’s most connected airport

BETTER CONNECTED: Heathrow jumps 15 places to the top

The news comes with the publication of the OAG’s Megahubs International Index 2017 which measures the ratio of scheduled international connections to the number of destinations served by the airport. A high ratio means a high score and Heathrow has climbed to the top. Since last year it has leapt 15 places though its connectivity index has actually decreased by 18 points over the same time period.

This decrease, which is found across the board, is the result of nothing more significant than a narrowing of the time window in which the index is measured. A spokesperson said: “The changes are a function of reducing the possible connection time. In the previous analysis, the connection window was longer and allowed more connections to be created.

“We felt on reflection that the connection time was too long and really didn’t highlight what a megahub was about, namely a series of connections over a short period of time. With the reduction in that connecting window to six hours which is still quite a long period then some airports slipped back and some improved. We also measured connections slightly differently, there now has to be an international flight included which again helps airports like LHR which has a small number of domestic markets but equally impacts airports such as ORD where there is a lot of domestic services.”

On a single day in July, there were over 72,000 possible international connections between flights arriving at LHR and flights departing within a six-hour window. Its next nearest competitors in the index include Frankfurt and Amsterdam’s Schiphol, meaning the three most connected airports are all in Europe. Four North American airports breached the top ten, including previous winner Chicago O’Hare. Chicago O’Hare’s connectivity index plummeted by 75 per cent from 1204 to 295 because of the reduction in the measured window.